San Francisco, CA - Rory Sutherland of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis held the third best time in the opening Prologue of the Amgen Tour of California until the final rider went off, well over an hour after he'd finished. Unfortunately, that last rider was Levi Leipheimer, who came in just one second faster than Jason Donald (Slipstream) to win the opening day with a time of 4:49. Sutherland finished in a time of 4:54, less than half a second behind 4th place finisher Ben Jacques-Maynes (Priority Health), and a half second ahead of world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (CSC).

"It was hard for everyone," Sutherland said of the 3.1 km course that started on the pancake flat Embarcadero, before turning toward Telegraph Hill and climbing 250 feet to the base of Coit Tower. The entire course was lined with tens of thousands of fans, in particular up the grueling finishing climb. "The fans were just amazing," Sutherland added. "I liked how they supported everyone."

Sutherland was the 24th of 128 riders to start the Prologue under sunny skies and light wind. However, the breeze picked up progressively as the day went on and more riders took to the course. By the time Ryder Hesjedal of Health Net Presented by Maxxis took the start as the 12th from last rider, there was a solid block headwind coming up the Embarcadero.

"All I know is the flags were flapping pretty good when I started," he said. "I took it a bit too easy at the start to keep from going too hard into the wind. Maybe I was too conservative all the way to the climb." He also may have lost a couple seconds with a mis-shift in the final few hundred meters. Still, he finished 11th on the stage, just nine seconds back.

Tim Johnson also posted a strong time of 5:01, placing 18th at 0:12 in arrears.

The Amgen Tour of California continues Monday with a 156 km stage from Sausalito up the Marin coast and inland from Tomales Bay to Santa Rosa.

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